Inseminoid (8 page)

Holly was just drifting off when she was brought back to consciousness by a noise outside her door. She got out of bed and listened for it again. She had a case of jitters and her heart beat rapidly. She took a step closer to the door and called out, “Is anybody there?”

“It’s me—Kate. Are you still awake?”

Holly’s tense shoulders dropped in relief. She opened the door. “What’s up?”

“It’s cold out here in the hallway,” Kate complained. “Can I come in?”

Holly stood to the side to let her pass, then closed the door behind her. “Okay, what can I do for you. It’s late.”

Kate felt terribly uncomfortable in Holly’s presence at that moment. “Maybe I’d better leave.”

Holly realised she was making it hard for Kate. She eased up and let some warmth flow into her manner. “Come on. Open up. What’s eating you?”

Kate threw her head back causing her long brown curls to tumble across her shoulders. “I . . . I can’t explain what I feel, but I want to try. Today I lost a good friend and I killed a colleague. Ricky and I were on rotation together. I mean, last night we were making love and today I killed him.” Kate was close to tears.

Holly moved closer to her. “Here, sit on the bed next to me. Cry if it makes you feel better.”

“I would, if only I could. You know, it’s so damn hard being a woman. We’re supposed to be hard as nails—chew up days like this and spit them out again, just like a man. Just like you, Holly. But damn it! It’s so difficult to be like that.”

“We’re not born like that,” Holly told her. “It’s something that takes time to learn. We have to control our emotions. The only way I got where I am today is because when the chips were down I knew I could be hard as a rock.”

“But . . .” Kate tried to interrupt.

“Let me finish. You mentioned Ricky. That you slept with him and now you’ve killed him. Well, that just proves the concept of rotation works. If you had been emotionally involved with him you’d never have been able to pull the trigger. And where would it have got you? You’d both probably be dead right now.”

Holly moved close to Kate their legs were pressed against each other. From above, the reading lamp shone down through their nightclothes revealing contrasting bodies. They were both the same age, twenty-six. Kate was taller, her breasts and hips smaller. Holly was muscular and buxom with nicely shaped round hips.

Holly managed to get out a weak laugh. “You think it’s easy being hard? I don’t tell people this, but more than once I’ve come back to my cabin at night, locked myself in and cried my heart out. I don’t care what they teach you at the Academy. It’s impossible to block out all emotion. All human emotion. I know it has no place on intergalactic missions like this but hell, you spend two, maybe three months fucking a guy. You get to like it and you get to like him. Then it’s time to rotate and you’re landed with someone you can’t stand and
he’s
balling your best friend.”

That brought a smile to Kate’s drawn and weary face. “I’m glad you understand. I really am. We never had a chance to talk like people, like friends, on expeditions like this. I feel better already.”

Holly looked Kate in the eye. “If you want to get anywhere in this business, you’ve got to hide those feelings. Feelings, Kate, are perceived as a sign of weakness. Once an adversary senses that weakness, you can forget it! He’ll hammer away at it until you’re broken.”

Kate was looking concerned again. “So what do I do?”

“When it hurts inside, just bite your lip till it bleeds if you have to. Then, when you’re alone, let yourself go.”

Suddenly Kate began to cry. The floodgates really opened. She tried to stop and compose herself but it was no use. The pain from that terrible day was being washed away by salty tears.

Holly put her arms around Kate and pulled her close. “Hey, it’s okay. Let it all out. It’ll be our secret.”

“Oh thank you, thank you, Holly,” she said between sobs.

Holly continued to hold Kate close and she rocked her in her arms. Somehow her shirt had fallen open and a round bare breast rested comfortably against Kate’s. The warmth of the two touching bodies was reassuring. The feeling gave Holly unexpected pleasure. She was also surprised to feel a heated churning down below.

Holly wondered if Kate was experiencing a similar sensation. The question was answered very soon. Kate lifted her head and met Holly’s lips. They kissed tenderly but there was an ever-increasing urgency in their embrace. Holly broke away and attempted to unfasten the remaining buttons on Kate’s shirt. But Kate stopped her.

A sinking feeling came over Holly. She wondered if perhaps she’d made a terrible mistake. If Command got wind of it, she’d lose her commission. But her fears were soon calmed.

Kate spread Holly out on the bed, unbuttoned the commander’s shirt and slipped off her panties. Then she brought herself to the same state of total nakedness. She lightly stroked Holly’s deeply tanned thighs, deliberately missing the warmth of her womanhood. Holly was being taken higher and higher until she couldn’t stand it any longer. She guided Kate’s eager tongue between her parted legs and enjoyed the pleasurable sensations. Holly bit her lip. This time, not to hold back the tears of pain, but the tears of joy.

Across the corridor from Holly’s room, a similar activity was taking place, only between Mitch and Barbra, They also had their share of contrasts. Though both were tall, her skin was soft with a pink freshness to it. His black skin was tightly pulled over his muscular body.

Barbra was turned on by the way they looked when they made love. She’d watch in the mirror as he slid his long and thick member into her. It fit so perfectly and it felt so nice. She especially enjoyed grinding her triangle of straight smooth blonde hair against his curly black strands. She often thought they made a good-looking couple. She prayed that one day they might have a child. Not now of course, because of his work—but one day. And she was sure the baby would be a beautiful shade of golden-brown.

The lights coming from the laboratory were blazing. Gary might not have given them a second thought if Holly hadn’t told him to be extra-cautious. Anyway, he figured it was worth a look. Gary peered through the window in the door to observe Karl hard at work.

He pushed his way in. “Hey, Doc, working late, eh?”

Karl was at his desk. He was glad for the company and pushed the papers in front of him out of the way. “Good timing. How about a cup of coffee?”

“Not for me. Just had one. What’re you up to?”

“Just running some tests on our very strange Being. And let me emphasise, very strange.”

Gary raised his eyebrows. “I don’t suppose you’d like to meet up with it in a dark alley.”

“Ah, no. Not in a dark alley. Though I’d be willing to bet he and his buddies found themselves at a dead end. I hope Mitch can break that writing code, and fast. I’ve got a million questions that need answers. Then, at least we could all relax a bit. I’ve been handing out sleeping pills and tranquilizers like they were going outa style.”

“Ever been on a mission like this before, Doc?” Gary probed. “I mean, where people have gone crazy like Ricky did.”

Karl ran his fingers through his thin receding hair. “Yeah, but then it was just stress-induced.”

“And you mean that with Ricky it wasn’t?” Gary was becoming very interested.

Karl figured it was time to be open and frank. “That’s exactly what I mean. Something happened to his chemical make-up. There’s something very strange going on up here, almost evil. No,” he corrected himself. “Definitely evil!”

Gary shot him a worried look.

“I just don’t know what it is. Maybe we’ll get the answers from Mitch.”

Gary turned to leave, more nervous than when he entered. “Going to be up all night?”

Karl nodded. “Looks that way.”

The door to the lab slid open and Sandy entered through the portal. She was refreshed after a good night’s sleep and eager to continue with the rest of the tests on the creature. Sandy had Karl figured out. For instance, she played a hunch he was still in the lab, and she was right on the mark. He had spent the night going through his battery of tests. Checking and rechecking the results, then feeding the data into the computer for an analysis. She wasn’t surprised when she found him slumped over his notes fast asleep.

“Doctor, I’ve brought you some breakfast. You want to wake up or should I bring you a blanket and a pillow?”

Karl slowly and with great effort opened his heavy eyelids. “Is it morning already? What time is it?”

“About eight-thirty. How late were you at it?”

He yawned. “Don’t know. I think I fell off at about five. Maybe a little later.”

“You know we’re going to be here for at least another couple of months. If you push yourself like this you won’t make it.” She tried her best to sound convincing when she scolded him, but somehow she just couldn’t pull it off.

He looked up and immediately focused on the tray she was holding. “What’ve you got there?”

Sandy set the tray before him on the desk. “I figured you might still be here and if you were you’d probably like some breakfast. Eggs, sausage and a very strong cup of coffee. How’s that sound?”

“If they still used money like in the old days, I’d say it sounded like a million dollars. Let me at that coffee.”

“Careful—it’s hot.”

Karl took a sip. “But it’s good and right now I sure can use it.” Glancing at the slab in the corner of the room he added, “I wonder how long it’s been since he had breakfast. A thousand years, maybe?”

“Any chance that Mitch will be able to figure that out from the writing on the tablets he found yesterday?”

Karl shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. As far as I can tell he hasn’t even broken the code. So many variables. No way to know how their dating system corresponds to ours unless some sort of astronomical occurrence has been chronicled. If it has then maybe we can tie it to something we know about and date it that way.” He swung his chair slowly around and looked across the lab at the creature. It lay deathly still. “Who knows, maybe when it wakes up—if it ever does—it’ll be able to communicate the secrets of its past.”

“You mean talk?” Sandy’s eyes opened wide.

“Possibly, although there are other ways of communication. We do know it had a developed intellect . . .” Karl cut himself off in mid-sentence.

“What is it?”

“I thought I saw our friend move.”

Sandy stepped closer to Karl. “I didn’t see anything.”

But the doctor had. He walked slowly over to where the Being lay. Bright green lidless and pupil-less eyes glowed from beneath the scaley folds of its face. A face reddish-brown in color.

Sandy followed him at a safe distance.

“Karl, I saw its claw move!”

“Yeah, me too.” He leaned across the creature and felt along where the major arteries might be in a human arm for anything resembling a pulse. “Nothing,” he said, as much to himself as to Sandy. “Not a damn thing to indicate whether it’s alive or dead. By our standards if something doesn’t breathe, it should be dead, right? But there’s no perceptible heartbeat, no pulse—yet it moves!”

“But you can’t look at it that way. We have no way of knowing how it’s survived all these years in that glass case.”

“I know, I know. I’m just overwhelmed. Fascinated. There! It moved again!”

Suddenly the creature produced a low rumbling noise. Instinctively the doctor and his assistant moved back.

“Is it trying to say something?” Sandy asked, trembling slightly.

“Could be.”

A chill ran down Sandy’s back. “I think he
is
trying to tell us something.”

Karl switched on the overhead light and moved closer. A moment went by. Then he said quietly, “Watch its eyes. They’re spinning like a ball-bearing on a rollerskate. It’s almost as if the eyes aren’t attached to anything on the other side of the socket.”

The creature turned its head and seemed to focus on the doorway.

Karl glanced in that direction and then back to the Being tied to the slab. “There’s something over there that’s caught it’s attention.” Slowly he began rolling the slab in what appeared to be the creature’s line of vision. As they approached his desk the thing let go with its loudest sound yet, its eyes starting to move erratically.

Karl stopped short. “It’s agitated. Something’s got it worked up. What is it, damn it?” He cursed and looked around the room.

“Maybe it wants some breakfast,” Sandy remarked innocently.

“Breakfast—the food! Sausages, eggs and toast! Sandy, you’re a doll. That could be it.”

“But I was only kidding,” she insisted.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you’re very far off-base. Let’s put it to the test. Hand me the plate.”

Sandy did as she was told.

Karl’s hands shook, not out of fear of the creature but because he suspected he might be on the threshold of something great. He steadied his hand and took the sausage from the plate. He was so excited he could barely feel the rubbery meat between his fingers. He moved the sausage slowly to the slab and the creature began to tremble. For the very first time, it opened its mouth to reveal three sets of short pointed razor-sharp teeth. A thin reptilian tongue darted from side to side.

“Oh Karl, don’t get too close,” Sandy warned, eyes wide.

But he heard none of his assistant’s words. Transfixed by the creature before him, he held the sausage only a few inches from the Being. Suddenly a yellow liquid squirted from its mouth on to his hand.

Sandy gagged and looked away.

“Easy,” Karl whispered, “easy. You really want to eat, don’t you. Really hungry, eh? There you go.” He dropped the meat into the creature’s mouth.

It sucked it in greedily and easily ground it to nothing. Instantly, it began to pull at its bonds.

“Sandy, the rest of it! Give me the rest of it!”

She handed him the plate and watched as the creature devoured it all.

“More!” Karl demanded. “Get Holly down here. And the professor. Mitch will want to see this. Hurry, Sandy! Oh my God, will you look at him chomp away!”

“I’m on my way.”

The doctor circled the slab holding the creature. He studied it closely for any change that might be occurring. But the Being had calmed considerably since it ingested the food, its first meal for what must have been a long, long time. Its eyes had ceased rolling and it no longer pulled against its bonds. The yellow liquid was now little more than a trickle. About every thirty seconds it groaned but that sound had none of the intensity that accompanied its feeding.